


Please Mister Postman

by KittenKin



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Humor, Light Angst, M/M, Romance, winteriron
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-13
Updated: 2019-04-13
Packaged: 2019-10-27 13:49:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 6,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17767964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KittenKin/pseuds/KittenKin
Summary: Based on a prompt by honeyppie (https://honeyppie.tumblr.com/post/180610159527/). Basically Bucky is the mailman in Tony's neighborhood, and can't stand to see Tony's sad face every time he stops by without a letter from Steve to deliver. So Bucky gets the great (?) idea to write Tony, pretending to be Steve. Everything's going great (keep tellin' yourself that, Buck) until one day, dun dun dun, there's one Captain Rogers standing on the porch. Opens with Steve/Tony and one-sided Bucky/Tony, and transitions to Steve/Peggy and Bucky/Tony.





	1. Chapter 1

Bucky’s not stupid. Well, at least not entirely. He may be head over heels for someone he knows is unavailable, but he's got a working brain. He starts off with a telegram, created with the assistance of an easily charmed young thing at the post office he works out of.

“Good news!” he announces with a smile the instant Tony meets his eyes, taking every precaution he can to ensure that the man understands that it’s just a regular old telegram being delivered, not A Telegram.

CAPTURED RESCUED SAFE WRITING  
STEVE

Short and to-the-point and beautifully vague.

“Not much for poetry and stuff, is he?” Bucky prompts, a sweet stinging making him clear his throat over how Tony can’t tear his eyes away from the paper, or how his hands are trembling. Tony laughs, a choked little sound.

“Well yeah, usually it’s much longer with a ‘love Steve’ and a little doodle at the end, but this gets the important points across. I’ll…I’ll take it.”

Bucky leaves Tony still rooted to the front step, hand cupped over his mouth as if ready to strangle any shaking breaths that try to upgrade into sobs. He’s still got a job to do, after all, but thankfully it’s one that leaves him plenty of time for plotting as he walks from house to house with his bag of envelopes and packages. (And telegrams, but he doesn't like to think on those.) The “love, Steve” is not a problem but Bucky’s no artist. He decides that Captain Steven G. Rogers has had his dominant hand broken very badly during captivity and won’t be able to draw for at least eight weeks.


	2. Chapter 2

Tony’s not stupid either, is the thing.

He notices the charming grins on Bucky softening to sweet smiles, hears the telling silences and carefully casual questions. He’s had his fair share of admirers, after all, and knows that he’s gained a new one after a couple of weeks of the new mailman’s route. After a couple of months, however, he’s surprised to realize that he’s gained a new friend as well.

Bucky is charismatic and outgoing and has a sly sense of humor, and if that was all then it would be the easiest thing in the world to smile on the front step and forget about the man once the door is shut. But Bucky also has a warm heart and a refreshingly blunt honesty, and as time passes and Steve’s next letter never comes, Tony begins to rely on the concern and comfort to distract himself from worry.

Howard Stark has money and influence and that means Tony Stark has plenty of friends but not many he'd actually trust. The few he would usually open his heart to are all overseas anyway, so Bucky's sunny smiles and earnest encouragement are like a cool draught of lemonade on a dry, dusty day, and Tony's key strengths have never included self-control.

In his defense, nothing ever happens. Bucky never comes into the house for a glass of water that would lead to an invitation to rest a bit on the couch, and Tony continues to direct him to leave any post or parcels on the little table on the porch instead of reaching out to take them and “accidentally” brush their hands together. But Bucky’s crawled his way into his heart, and Tony’s let him.

Steve is an ocean away and it aches. And the colder the fear in Tony’s gut gets, the more permissible it seems to allow any warmth, any spark of hope to get closer. Bucky smiles and shrugs and tells him to keep his chin up, and it’s a little easier to do so for just a few more precious minutes.

But Tony knows the odds, and what’s more, his father’s connections allow him to know more than he ought to about secret missions and lost contacts and the speech that the president has prepared to give over an empty casket. Tony’s been directed to keep up the pretense that he knows nothing and that Steve is a nobody, but it’s been a new kind of torture to keep pretending to wait for a letter he’s sure won’t be written.

So when Bucky hands him the phony telegram, well…Tony gets weepy. The hell of it is, he’s not quite sure if he’s crying because he’s afraid this is as close as he’ll ever get to hearing from Steve again, or if he’s just so damned touched by the lengths Bucky’ll go to for him.


	3. Chapter 3

Steve had been Howard's Stark's guinea pig, to make sure the serum worked and was safe before the inventor and entrepreneur used it to fix his own son's defective heart. Tony'd been shoulder to shoulder with Howard and sometimes face to shouting face as they'd refined and redesigned and re-worked the chamber that would irradiate the scrawny young soldier with vita rays. He'd spent countless hours in the labs with Erskine and ridden along with Peggy in the Jeep, anxiously watching to make sure Steve didn't push himself into an asthma attack.

Howard had wanted to cure Steve for his own legacy's sake. Steve had wanted to be cured so that he could help people, both Tony and his fellow soldiers at the front. And Tony had wanted to cure Steve out of pure scientific curiosity at first, but then increasingly because that ninety pound sack with two hundred pounds of fight stuffed into it had seemed so much more worthy of the serum than Tony. He'd wanted the test to run perfectly the first time, not for a sense of success or hope, but because Steve had deserved it.

They'd bonded quickly over their imperfect health and some stolen whiskey. Tony'd liked Steve's stubbornness and Steve had been all bright-eyed awe over Tony's smarts and snark. These qualities had clashed at times, of course, but the project had always forced them back together, and a lot of Howard's alcohol cabinet had gone toward smoothing things over. Too much scotch had probably been what'd tipped Tony into that kiss, too, the night before it all went so spectacularly sideways.

Tony has nightmares still about screams and shots and a suddenly gigantic Steve rushing out of the building as Tony holds a bleeding, gasping, dying Erskine in his arms. He never manages to dream about Steve's last smile before he gives Tony a strange, careful hug and whispers into his ear that he'll write.

Tony decides pretty early on that the kiss was probably a mistake. One that he himself could have laughed off, but that sweet, upstanding Steve had taken all too seriously. Steve likes him, absolutely, probably loves him in a brotherly sort of way, but Tony isn't sure Steve loves him so much he would've eventually come back to him with open arms and a ring on his own volition. But Steve writes faithfully, always ends his letters with "love", and packs the paragraphs with determination and devotion. And for all his genius in the labs, Tony's a little backwards when it comes to relationships, and he's unable to think of anything to do except respond in kind.

He thinks they could be happy enough, going on like this. They'll get through the war and just...keep being together. Steve will keep being Steve, serving his country in whatever capacity he can. Maybe he could even survive politics, with Tony by his side to do most of the schmoozing. Or maybe he'll just go career and Tony will stay in his lab doing the only kind of dangerous work his heart can take, and making it more dangerous with copious applications of coffee and whiskey. They'll support each other, go on vacations together when their schedules permit it, and live good lives doing good work.

Tony knows full well what's missing from the picture to make it a great life instead of just a good one, but he doesn't wanted to name it. It feels like disloyalty.


	4. Chapter 4

Bucky's pretty darned proud of the letter, really. He writes it with his off hand but tries to make it neat, and gets the mission details out of the way by sweeping most of it under some convenient fever-forgetfulness and classified status. Tony loves to talk, but he's never wanted to dwell much on where exactly his boyfriend was or what he was doing, and Bucky would've rather eaten his mail sack than pried.

He explains the wobbly lettering and lack of artistic endeavors by detailing Steve's imaginary injuries, and then assures Tony that he's got great doctors and attentive nurses, and that he ought to be as good as new with enough rest. It would defeat the point to make Tony worry too much about Steve's injuries, after all.

Bucky then indulges in listing off some of the things about Tony that he figures Steve would miss most, and makes sure to end the letter with the "love Steve" that Tony had mentioned. He even doodles in a smiley face at the end (with his dominant hand; Tony'd think Steve had suffered massive brain damage otherwise instead of just a busted arm) and adds an apology in a post-script for not being able to draw anything better.

He's got the gal at the post office completely suckered in to his cause, and the envelope's properly marked up and artfully scuffed. She's copied the address of a hospital overseas onto it from other letters and has even typed it onto the envelope for him to save him some time. Thankfully, she doesn't mind that he's doing this for someone he's admittedly gone over; the romanticism of the gesture seems to have melted away any personal disappointment she might've felt. All in all, the letter's a work of stupid, soppy art, and Bucky just hopes he hasn't overdone it as he tosses it casually onto the little table on Tony's porch.

Tony's scooping it up before it stops sliding, but instead of rushing inside or tearing into it on the spot, he's breathless and smiling and rooting Bucky to the ground with how beautiful he is.

"Thank you," Tony says, voice wobbling somewhere between a laugh and a sob.

Bucky almost shrugs the gratitude away with "don't thank _me_ ; I didn't write it" but the lie is so blatant it chokes him, and he just gives Tony his best grin and a cocky salute before shooing the man off inside to read his letter.

He ought to be happy at succeeding in his plan, but he finds it kind of hurts instead.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A couple more snapshots, and we'll get to the dun-dun-dunnn~

If Tony has any lingering doubts about the veracity of the telegram and letter, they're put to rest as soon as he reads about Steve's projected recovery time. The injury is a clever solution to the fact that Bucky doesn't know and can't replicate Steve's handwriting and artwork, but there's no way it would take eight weeks for the super soldier to heal some broken bones.

Tony hasn't been allowed anywhere near a front line, what with his dicky heart and his father's overbearing protectiveness. But he's been at Steve's side for all the trials, and he knows what the blond's new body is capable of. Steve probably wouldn't have started up a fever at all, or if he had, he definitely wouldn't suffer under it on and off for weeks. And any bones he'd broken would have been fused well enough for him to write - and draw - by the time Steve had been settled back at camp with enough time to himself to pen a proper letter. He certainly wouldn't be stuck at some army hospital being looked after by regular medical personnel and expecting to be bedridden for some time.

The letter makes him smile all the same, though it also makes him bite his lip almost raw. If taking comfort in Bucky's cheerful smiles and optimism had been confusing before, it's giving him the spins now.

Every sentence on the page recalls his fears for Steve, and every fiber of the paper is suffused with Bucky's earnest affection. He wonders where Steve actually is, and what Bucky's going to do when Tony writes back. He's terrified that Steve's actually captured and injured and suffering, and has to remember Bucky's repeated injunctions not to worry too much in order to calm down. Tony reads about Steve and thinks about Bucky, then feels guilty about Bucky and worries about Steve.

He wonders what'll happen if Steve's dead, and focuses with fierce gratitude on the resulting nausea so that he doesn't have a chance to follow that thought any further.


	6. Chapter 6

Tony writes back right away, and Bucky fishes the letter out of his bag and pockets it later with a twinge of guilt. He can't let it actually get sent though; it would get routed and re-routed and eventually make its way back to Tony undelivered. Or worse yet, included within another letter from whomever Steve reports to with an "it is my duty to inform you". It's less about protecting Bucky's lie and more about the way all of Tony's worries and fears would come back, multiplied tenfold by delay.

He doesn't give it enough time for Tony's letter to hypothetically arrive before writing another one himself. He figures that a man with nothing to do but lie in a cot and itch at his cast and stitches would write often, even if there's nothing to write about.

The details stump him for a bit when he gets down to the nitty gritty of the business, but after gnawing one fingernail to the quick, he decides on a simple "food's all right; wish I was home" format. He makes up and jots down the names of some doctors and nurses on a scrap of paper so he won't mix them up later, and then starts writing.

The imaginary doctors are all stressed but talented, and the imaginary nurses are all weary but kind, and the imaginary food is much better than potted meat and also has the virtue of being delivered on a regular schedule. Bucky throws in a harridan of a head nurse for flavor, and sometimes makes up a bit of light gossip about another soldier on the next cot over, just to round a letter out.

Each letter always ends with Tony. Steve misses Tony's eyes and the way he cackles when he's laughing real hard. He misses his hair with all its unruly and unpredictable curls, and wonders if it's gotten much longer. He can't decide which he misses more; the crinkles by Tony's eyes when he's being a sassy little punk or that wrinkle-nosed frown he gets going when he's thinking through an experiment. If Captain Rogers is worth even half a damn, Bucky is sure that the man would agree with everything he's writing. (And probably be jealous, suspicious, and some other -ouses.)

He's tempted to make plans to deck Captain Rogers if he turns out to be less than deserving of such a fantastic boyfriend as Tony, but then again, Bucky figures he's not exactly in a position to judge.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Whump chapter. I promise on my Stony dollhouse that everything will be rainbows and Steve, Tony, and Bucky will not be hurt by the end of the story.

The phone call is short, and he makes it shorter. Howard is too busy mourning to inquire after his son's grief, and once he starts reassuring Tony that his old man still intends to keep strong and keep going, Tony cuts the call with a quiet, "Gotta go, Dad".

He wakes up nearly a full twenty-four hours later, cuddling an empty bottle and nursing one hell of a hangover. His mouth tastes like something's died in it, and when he remembers why he'd started drinking he wishes his chest felt half as good as his head.

Stupid broken heart.

Even deciding to lie the rest of the way down on the kitchen floor seems like too momentous a task, but after a while logic wins out over everything else he's thinking and feeling and contemplating throwing up. Staying slumped against some cabinets isn't going to get him anything but more aches, so he drags himself upright and into the shower.

He scrubs away dried tears, rinses away fresh ones, and swallows three aspirin with the last of the hot water. He's not sure if it's acid or anguish that's making him queasy, so he tries to make an adult decision by forcing down some dry toast before guzzling near about a whole pot of coffee. Then he rewards himself for his drive and maturity by putting his head down on the kitchen table and crying.

He grieves for Steve's loss, pure and simple. It's strangely relieving to feel nothing but pain; it means he honestly did love the man, right? And now that he's gone and their hazy future with him, it seems to matter less whether Tony's affection was more friendly or romantic. All that matters now is that Steve is mourned, honored, and remembered, not just by a grateful nation but by someone who knew him.

He holes up in his tiny at-home lab for ten days, only taking breaks to visit the kitchen or the bathroom as needed, and sometimes even his bed out of respect for the memory of Steve always insisting that sleep was in fact necessary even for the great Tony Stark. The mail piles up against the inside of the front door, and once there's a soft knock before the creak and scrape of envelopes being pushed through the slot, but Tony ignores it.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the "dun dun dunnn" chapter. I'll post the explanation chapter in a moment~ ^_^

Nearly two weeks since he's seen Tony, and Bucky's about ready to try knocking again. Welfare inquiries aren't within the United States Postal Service's purview and he and Tony aren't exactly friends, but...well, there isn't a good "but" and Bucky's never let that stop him before, so why start now?

He doesn't even make it off the sidewalk. There's already someone on the porch, knocking on the door, and Bucky startles as the front door is wrenched open so hard it slams against the interior wall and nearly knocks Tony right off his ass and into the khaki-clad stranger's arms.

"Steve?!"

Oh. Not a stranger.

Captain Steven G. Rogers, alive and well, shoots one long arm out to stop the rebounding door before it hits his boyfriend. Bucky thinks he can hear something being murmured in response, but Tony's collapsed forward and wrapped his arms around the soldier's broad torso before more than one or two words get out.

Bucky twists away and walks on before he can be caught staring. There is in fact some mail for Tony - legitimate post, not just Bucky's lies - but he'll circle back at the end of his route and drop it off then. No sense in interrupting the touching reunion, after all.

No need to find out if Tony's recent refusals to come outside for his mail meant that Bucky's scheme to cheer him up has been uncovered. It doesn't matter anymore, does it? The real deal has come home.


	9. Chapter 9

There's a lot of patient explaining (Steve) and a lot of incredulous shouting (Tony). Steve takes all of the frantic interruptions and frenetic pacing in stride, even having the audacity to grin while telling his tale as if the manic panic the brunet is exuding just adds to the joy of the reunion.

"Well, it turned out to be lucky I'd ditched the plane in all that ice--"

"How the HELL was it LUCKY?! You need a chunk for a whiskey you'd been drinking?!"

"--because I managed to swim over to some pack ice and haul myself out of the water. Helped me conserve energy while waiting for rescue, not having to tread water."

"I'm sorry, was there a little LODGE on the ice where you could build a fire and dry your clothes?! Or did dear old dad invent a TELEPORTATION DEVICE so he could come and get you right away?! Which, if he did, great, but he _really_ should have told me--"

"Well...no." Steve has the grace to look a little abashed here, what with Tony retroactively going through all the worry that Peggy and the others had in real time, waiting on tenterhooks for the rescue effort to conclude. "I uh...I was pretty cold by the time rescue arrived."

"STEVEN GODDAMN ROGE--"

"Okay, okay! I was...um...frozen. Not solid or anything but I kind of...went into hybernation?"

"Pretty sure the serum didn't include BEAR BLOOD!"

The soldier drags Tony back down onto the couch by the arms, gentle but strong, laughing but insistent.

"Well, whatever it had in it, the stuff's even more amazing than we thought. It kept me alive, and after they'd warmed me back up, wasn't more than a few hours before I was as good as new. Then there were some meetings and other boring stuff...I have to be in Washington tomorrow, but I told them I had to come and see you first."

Steve's got both of Tony's hands in his big paws now, the grin fading into a soft smile, letting tiredness and worry seep through as well. It's sweet, but Tony narrows his eyes.

"You have to be in Washington tomorrow for what, exactly?"

"Uh...the President's giving a speech this coming Sunday."

"Uh-huh."

"About the war effort and...um...Captain America."

"Mm-hm."

"I'm gonna get up and say a few words too, show America I'm alive and all that, and then uh...take off my mask."

There's more shouting.

Tony calms down after Steve repeats his reasonings - the personal ones, not the official rigamarole written by committee - enough times, and somehow that last outburst clears the air of the last bits of tension caused by their separation and Steve's presumed capture and death. All the noise and arm-waving feels enough like old times to restore them to their pre-serum camaraderie, and after Tony flops back down into his corner of the couch, he finds himself chuckling, feeling high on relief and joyous disbelief.

"All right, so not that I don't appreciate it or understand why anyone wouldn't want to bask in my presence, but why did you need to detour all the way over here to see little ol' me, mister Baseball Pie and Hot Cup of Hope?" He gives one beefy thigh a playful kick, but sobers up quick at the way Steve winces and then looks down, all hang-dog.

"Steve?"

The super soldier's lower lip would be bitten bloody were it not for the serum, and it's a long moment before Steve finally speaks.

"I got kissed. Twice."

Well. Tony can't fault anyone for stealing a smooch. He did it himself, after all, though he gives himself a pat on the back for doing it before the man got all those shiny new muscles.

"You steppin' out on me, Rogers?" he jokes, but it falls flatter than flat. Tony's horrified when Steve looks to be on the edge of tearing up.

"The first time was just...Private Lorraine, she was just being friendly. Said she wanted to thank me and sorta took me by surprise."

Tony edges closer, feeling unaccountably like he should be comforting Steve despite the conversation being what it is. He bumps his knee against Steve's, soft and friendly.

"And the second time?"

"Peggy. Agent Carter. Right before I jumped onto the plane; I didn't tell you that part earlier."

Peggy Carter. Who'd babysat Tony now and again. He has a semi-hysterical thought that at least Steve is keeping it in the SSR family. Tony schools his face to blankness, though it hardly matters; Steve is staring at his own clasped hands like they're a script he has to read from.

"Huh."

Steve winces as if Tony'd spat out something vile instead of just a contemplative huff, but Tony ignores it for the moment and sits back again to ponder. Thankfully his brain is a thing of wonder as if to make up for the fact that his heart is bargain bin garbage, and it doesn't take him long to parse things out.

And he finds that he doesn't actually mind all that much.

"So...three people've kissed you now; Peggy, a private, and yours truly," Tony sums up, and Steve nods, still looking miserable. "Who do you want to kiss back?"

Steve says his name protestingly and finally looks up, guilt and worry weighing him down like he's gone and gotten his entire dance troupe in the family way, not just been given a couple of kisses.

And apparently fallen in love.

Tony shrugs and makes to cut off the big honorable speech full of apologies and promises that he can just feel welling up behind those big, beseeching baby blues.

"Look," he says, holding up a placating hand. "I can see you're worried about hurting me right now but honestly I'm more of a futurist. My main concern is the rest of our lives, really, and I think what would hurt most in the end is us sticking together out of some sense of, I dunno, duty or whatever. Just because I happened to kiss you before someone else had the chance, you know?"

"Tony, I'm with you," Steve insists, grabbing at one of Tony's hands and tugging him back upright and close. "I don't regret you, I could _never_ regret you; you're smart and funny and I couldn't have gotten through Project Rebirth without you, and--"

"And I'm gorgeous and sexy and a great catch, yeah yeah yeah, and more importantly, I don't think my ego could take being settled for," Tony interrupts firmly.

This shuts Steve up, and though he doesn't unlace their fingers when Tony tugs, he does drop his eyes again before answering Tony's original question. When the confession comes, it's in a rush of breath, like Steve's trying to make a quick, clean cut.

"I think I'm in love with Peg."

There's a stab right under his sternum, taking Tony a bit by surprise. Hearing the truth confirmed is apparently different than sussing it out for one's self. He willfully brushes it off as just another pang from his malfunctioning heart or some twinge of the ego, however, and then nods and looks away. When he draws his hand back, Steve lets him go this time.

"Then go see if she'll have you," he says after a deep breath and steady sigh, and gets up off the couch to pace a random path around the living room. He can feel Steve's worried gaze tracking him. "I still call dibs on being your best friend whom you couldn't have become Captain America without and all that, though. And you should ask me to be your best man at the wedding. Not sure if I'll say yes yet though. If I say no, you have to preface other best man invitations with an explanation of how you really wanted me to do it but I said no."

"Tony."

"I am to be mentioned heavily in all books and films as a very positive influence on you. Oh, be sure to leave out all the booze we stole from Dad, and no mention of the non-sanctioned explosions or the twenty or thirty times I snuck you off-base in a stolen Jeep, understand? And that thing with the showgirl costume never happened."

"Tony."

"With all the upcoming publicity you might become famous for your art, too; I expect something appropriately grand and glorious to be dedicated to me. Put lots of gold in it."

Steve gives up on getting his attention and tackles him from behind. Or, well it's probably meant to be a hug but the guy forgets his super-strength sometimes still.

By the time Tony gets enough breath back to speak, the moment for it feels like it's passed, and the two men just stand by the coffee table, giving and taking comfort, trying to make up with body heat what warmth they're going to subtract from their relationship, stilted though it's been since circumstances pulled them apart. Little murmurs start to filter out from between them, but they don't let go right away.

"You can punch me if you want."

"I'd break my hand. Not very satisfying."

"You could shout at me?"

"Thanks for the offer, but I'm kind of tired out. What time's your flight?"

"0600."

"Ugh. I'll say goodbye now, then."

"Kicking me out?"

"Yep. Go back to whatever hotel they've got you in, grab a shower, ask Peggy out for dinner and dancing."

"We uh...sorta made a date to go dancing already."

Tony does punch him then, drawing one arm just far enough back that he can get in a good jab to the ribs.

"We thought I was dying!" Steve protests, but he's laughing lightly, the bastard, and hadn't even flinched at the blow.

"Jerk," Tony mutters into the crook of Steve's neck. "Your firstborn better be named after me."

"Will do," Steve promises, and then drops a kiss to Tony's hair. "You're the best, Tony."

"I know this, and you'll remember it too if you know what's good for you."

He gives Steve a little peck on the cheek when he finally gets around to pushing the man out the door.

"That's the kiss I should've given you before you went overseas, I think," he says, trying to tug his smile out of the slightly sad tilt he can feel it stuck in. "Sorry for confusing you."


	10. Chapter 10

After furtively shoving Tony's mail through the door slot and rushing off, Bucky spends most of the night trying not to wonder how the reunion's going.

With morning comes a new perspective, and he freezes for a second while buttoning up his uniform, wondering if he's going to find a righteously outraged Army captain fuming and flexing on Tony's front porch. He'd only had a distracted glimpse or two of the man yesterday, but Captain Rogers had looked distinctly beefy. Bucky imagines a hurt, angry Tony taking shelter behind one bulging bicep, demanding to know what Bucky'd been thinking, taking advantage of a worried, lonely heart like that. The worst of it all is that for all his good intentions, Bucky knows darned well that he's got no legs to stand on in this fight.

Hindsight is a bitch with eight hungry puppies and a case of mange.

He goes along his route with no little trepidation, but to his relief, finds Tony alone on the porch, his usual crooked smile in place. Maybe he and Steve didn't get around to talking about all the letters they've supposedly exchanged during their separation? It's a temporary reprieve at best, but Bucky draws courage from apparently having one more day to live with an unbroken nose - and heart - and hops up the steps with Tony's mail in hand.

"Been a while," he says in greeting. "You catch a cold or something?"

"No, just had some things to sort through," Tony replies. Bucky's spared having to decide between poking at this odd excuse for disappearing for nearly two weeks and responding with some equally weak small talk when Tony slips a small cream-colored envelope out of his shirt pocket and flaps it at him.

"Got some outgoing."

Bucky takes it and gives it a cursory look-see, checking for addresses and postage out of habit.

"You forgot to put a stamp on," he notes, and then looks up when Tony just laughs.

"Well, I was hoping to skip that bit, since it's for you."

Bucky looks back down and actually reads the addressee lines, and then chuckles.

James "Bucky" Barnes  
I Have No Idea  
Assuming Same City, Same State

"I'm not supposed to deliver mail without it going through the proper channels, but I suppose I can let it slide this once." The irony - or is that hypocrisy? - of his little joke almost makes him wince.

There's some friendly chit-chat, a little strained on Bucky's side and oddly...smirky...on Tony's. Neither man brings up the fact that Steve's come home, and Bucky goes about the rest of his route almost wishing that he'd just up and confessed and apologized and gotten the whole mess out of the way. He's not the most patient person, and waiting for the axe to fall is shredding his nerves.

He doesn't manage to wait until he gets back to his place. As soon as he's got a break, he opens the envelope and feels a surge of something bitter and fearful in his gut. The expensive sheet inside looks a lot like a wedding invitation. Bucky grits his teeth and begins reading through the sloping, elegant script.

_Mister Anthony E. Stark_  
requests the honor of your presence  
at the viewing of the addressing of the nation by  
The President  
and  
Captain America  
on Sunday the 22nd of April  
Nineteen Forty Five  
at six o'clock  
Tony's Television  
Tony's Place 

Bucky blinks. Cocks a skeptical eyebrow. Wonders if he's had a stroke. Reads it again.

He ends up laughing, because this is very Tony, to go to all the trouble and expense of sending him a formal invitation to watch a half-hour of television with him. Bucky's not sure he understands the whole joke, but decides that he's got no option but to go along with it and hope he doesn't end up as the butt.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And that's all folks~ Thank you for reading and commenting! I hope you enjoyed how things wrapped up, and that this fluffy little piece helps to strengthen your mind and shore up your spirits for the feels festival that will be happening in the MCU this month, April, in the year of our Lord 2019.

Sunday evening, Captain America gives a stirring speech about what it means to be an American, fight the good fight, and be true to yourself, and then reveals his identity.

"Hot 'n' holy damn, Tony, is that YOUR Captain Steven G. Rogers?!"

"Yup. And that lovely lady he just dipped is Peggy Carter. I guess she said yes."

"What. Wait. He just. They're."

"Yup."

"They. The. That...that _no-good two-faced un-American cheating son of a--_ "

"Whoa! Bucky, calm down. Sit down. _Something_ down!"

"--'m gonna march over there right _goddamned_ now and punch his _stupid star-spangled face!_ "

"They're...they're in DC."

"I don't care! And I don't care that he's Captain America! I'll sneak up behind him! He doesn't deserve to wear that uniform! _Any_ uniform! He's a disgrace to the nation! _HOW DARE HE!_ "

Tony's laughing too hard now to contribute anything more to the conversation, such as it is, and Bucky's outraged, offended rant goes on uninterrupted for several minutes. It only cuts off when he sees the tears - of mirth, but his mind skims over that detail - running down Tony's face as he clutches the couch cushions and gasps.

"Oh God, Tony I'm so sorry. Doll, don't cry; that jerk doesn't deserve you."

Tony wheezes even harder at this and desperately holds on to the hands that have clasped his, half-afraid that his overly concerned and misinformed friend will actually start marching on the capital to wage battle against poor slandered Steve. And Steve, if he thinks he has something to apologize for, won't defend himself so it's plausible that Bucky would actually get a few good punches in if he managed to hunt Captain America down.

"It's fine," Tony weakly protests, but Bucky is too deeply mired in his misunderstanding for anything but front page headlines to make any impact, and the conversation has to wait for Tony to get his breath back before any progress is made.

"I gave him and Peggy my blessing," Tony finally says while wiping his eyes, and in fact has to explain even more clearly that he and a very apologetic and honorable and decent-minded non-bastard Steve had split up amicably recently, and honestly probably shouldn't be considered as having been an item in the first place. Bucky is adorably doubtful, suspicious that Tony is just being kind to an undeserving actually-bastardous ex-boyfriend, but eventually allows himself to be convinced.

While Tony gets his giggles under control, Bucky transitions from righteously indignant to embarrassed, and there's a lot of shuffling and muttered apologies as dusk begins creeping up the windows and Bucky begins creeping out the front door.

Tony waits until Bucky's on the sidewalk before calling out.

"You can still write me, you know!"

Bucky startles, whips around, and makes a few uncertain noises.

"I liked hearing about how pretty I am," Tony says, glorying in the blush that overtakes Bucky's face, visible even in the fading light. "Steve never went in for that mushy stuff. Just sign your own name from now on, okay?"

Tony waits until he hears a squawky "Okay?" echoed back at him before winking and shutting the door.

Bucky stands wide-eyed on the sidewalk for a while, trying to process the entire cluster of an evening. One thing is clear; he is in so much trouble.

He grins all the way home.


End file.
